


Dreaming

by ChillyHollow



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Genre: Dreams, F/M, romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22472953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillyHollow/pseuds/ChillyHollow
Summary: Dreams may be the doorway to reality
Relationships: Robin Ellacott/Cormoran Strike
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

He woke up suddenly from a dream.The room was dark and unfamiliar but there was something he recognized in it—an illusive perfume that he noticed in the office when his partner was working at her desk. It was probably the brand of shampoo she used, but it told him Robin was here.Blinking, he sat up.He was in Robin’s bedroom, laying on her bed.He could see a dim light from the bathroom night light through a crack in the partly opened door.He looked around.Robin was curled up in a ball next to him, under the covers.She was breathing less noisily, which told him her congestion was better.He gently touched her forehead, then her cheek.She seemed to be a bit cooler and not as sweaty as when he’d put her to bed.The medicine her doctor had prescribed seemed to be helping her fever, too. 

He’d insisted she go to the doctor this afternoon when he noticed just how sick she was getting.He’d called the number she provided, shepherded her down to his car, and driven her to her GP, picked up the prescription the doctor’d provided and taken Robin to her flat where he’d heated soup and given her crackers and her medication, helped her into her pajamas, and put her to bed.He’d laid down on the bed on top of the covers next to her as she’d begged him to.She’d said she couldn’t go to sleep unless she knew he was there.He hadn’t dared take off his leg in case she needed him in the night but he’d slept ok despite the unfamiliar weight and her slender form next to him. 

He got up, used the bathroom, got himself a drink of water and brought water back to the bedroom to leave on the dresser next to her pills. It was 4:30 a.m. and still very dark out.He decided to lay back down on the bed.He bunched his pillow up a bit so he was slightly raised and could see her easily if he opened his eyes.He closed his eyes and almost immediately he was back in his dream.

They were walking down a London sidewalk together, hand in hand.Robin looked at him and smiled, so he drew her into his arms and kissed her.They stood there, people walking past them uncaring, holding each other.He stroked her hair and called her his Robin.She smiled at him and called him her Cormoran.It was perfect.

Robin woke up suddenly, aware that there was someone in the room with her.She listened, afraid, then relaxed. It was Cormoran.She could feel his big hand on her shoulder.His beard ticked her face.They were spooned together.Her head no longer ached although she thought she still might have a slight fever.She remembered how caring he’d been, taking her to the doctor, bringing her home, feeding her and giving her the medicine, then undressing her for bed.She hadn’t felt at all awkward that he had seen her nearly naked.It was Cormoran.She loved him.It was all right.She snuggled into his embrace and fell back asleep. 

She dreamed.She and Cormoran were at the beach, standing in the surf and splashing each other as the waves rolled in.They were laughing.His leg was whole again and they ran, him chasing her until he caught her, picked her up and spun her around. They collapsed on the wet sand and he was kissing her.Their clothes magically vanished and they were making love, the water licking at their toes, without thought for being outdoors in the daytime and all sandy and wet.She felt so alive, so loved. 

Tomorrow they would go back to being workmates, but tonight they were lovers together in dreamtime. 


	2. Dreaming

Three days later Robin was searching a database for information when she heard Strike coughing in his office. She listened a minute, then got up and went to his space to check on him.Sure enough, he looked a bit red in the face.“Want some tea?” she asked.He nodded. She made him tea, then when she took it to him, she touched his forehead and one cheek. Strike glared at her but he let her check.He felt warm.So she headed back to the main part of the office and fetched Tylenol for him to take with his tea.“I’ve given you my cold, haven’t I?” she asked.Strike nodded.His head was starting to ache. 

“Then why don’t you call it a day after you finish your tea and head to bed?I can handle the rest of today’s chores.”Robin thought he must really be feeling tired if he agreed to do this without argument.She shepherded him upstairs, found him comfortable clothing to sleep in, and tucked him in after he changed in the bathroom.Shutting the door to his bedroom, she took a swift inventory of the contents of his frig, then headed back to the office where she started making a shopping list while rearranging their schedules for the next two days.Barclay and Hutchins would handle everything that couldn’t be postponed, freeing her up to look after Strike.She got his spare set of keys out of his desk, grabbed her shopping list and laptop, locked up the office, then went back to his flat.Strike was sound asleep, so Robin dropped off the laptop and charger plus her office phone charger, locked his door, went to her flat to pack a bag, then stopped at Boots and Waitrose to stock up on what she would need to take care of Strike. 

She was back at Strike’s flat in about 90 minutes.He was still asleep but restless.He felt hotter, too.She ran cool water over a washrag and bathed his forehead.That seemed to settle him down a bit, so she returned to his kitchen and unpacked the food and medications she’d bought, dumped the bag of Twix she’d gotten on a whim into a clean bowl to put on the little kitchen table, pulled out a book to read, and took it with a kitchen chair into the bedroom where she settled down to read while keeping an eye on her partner. 

When Strike woke, she gave him cough medicine and more Tylenol with orange juice, bathed his forehead, and got him settled back with his pillows flipped so the cool side was up.He was very quiet but let her do what she wanted without protest.She went back to her chair and book after moving them next to the bed so she could smooth his hair back with one hand.Strike sighed and shut his eyes as Robin felt a wave of tenderness wash over her.She left her hand on his hair until she was sure he was asleep, then went back to her book. 

When he woke again several hours later, she gave him ginger ale and turned his pillows again.He agreed to eat something so she heated chicken noodle soup.When he stopped eating it half way through, pleading fatigue, she took his spoon from him and fed him the rest.When he whispered, “Stay with me,” she changed into yoga pants and a slouchy sweater, grabbed her laptop, and climbed into bed with him.He watched her draft a report for a while, then fell asleep. When Robin felt sleepy herself, she put the laptop aside, and crawled under the covers with him.Strike rolled over and laid his head on her shoulder, so she took him in her arms and stroked his hair again until she fell asleep herself. 

The next day he was no better, but Robin wasn’t worried since that’s how she had been.She continued to give him juice or water or ginger ale, gave him cough syrup and Tylenol, fed him soup or scrambled eggs when he was hungry, made him tea or coffee if he wanted it, and mostly stayed next to him on his bed, holding him to help him fall asleep.By that evening Strike insisted he was better, so while he took a shower, she changed his sheets and ordered pizza.They ate it at his kitchen table.He smiled at the bowl of Twix and even ate one for dessert.Then it was back to bed for them both.Robin took her laptop out.Strike read her report and suggested revisions which she made until they were both satisfied.Robin turned on his little tv and they watched football until they were both too tired to care about the score.They slept that night dreamless but content.


	3. Dreaming

Next week was busy as they caught up on things left undone while they were out of commission.It wasn’t until the next Friday afternoon at the Tottenham that Robin remembered she still had Strike’s extra set of keys in her purse.She pulled them out as he returned to their table with his beer and her white wine.“I forgot I had these.” 

“Keep them, just in case.” Strike told her. 

“I’ll give you my spare set.Just in case,”Robin said. They smiled and toasted each other with their drinks.“What time is curry at Nick and Ilsa’s?”

Strike looked at his watch.“Nick should be back from the hospital about 7.I thought we could pick up wine and beer on the way.Ilsa says she’ll have the curries delivered.We just have time to finish our drinks and share some crisps before we have to leave.Want to try that liquor store down the road from their place this time?” 

“Sure,” said Robin as she went to the bar for their crisps.They spent the rest of the time in the bar talking about next week’s schedule, Strike making a few notes on his little pocket notebook as they decided how to split up the workload.He’d transfer everything to the schedule tomorrow morning.Then they called a cab and headed off to their regular monthly curry date with their friends. 

The liquor store had a dry Chablis that Robin wanted to try, although Strike was certain the curry would drown out any flavor.Agreeing to disagree, they picked up some beer for Strike and Nick, then strolled down the sidewalk together, happy to have a sociable evening planned for once instead of surveillance. 

The curry was tasty, the beer and wine and conversation flowed, and Nick and Ilsa were the perfect hosts.Strike and Robin had them in stitches talking about the misadventures of following the Red Headed League, a pair of carrot-topped siblings who were cheating on their spouses and apparently giving each other alibis.Finally it was nearly 11 p.m. and time to head home.Nick talked them into taking a cab that they would share.Riding together in the back seat toward Robin’s flat, Strike started to remember how nice it felt to have Robin hold him at night.Robin was thinking along the same lines, remembering how Strike had taken care of her and the great dreams she’d had about him.She sighed.

“Tired?” Strike asked. 

“Not really, I just hate for the evening to end.We don’t get out enough, do we?”

“Probably not.Our job means we normally work nights and weekends.”

“Want to come up to my flat for tea or a nightcap?I need to give you my spare keys.”

“Sure.”So they sent the cab on its way at Robin’s place. 

“What would you like to drink?” Robin asked.“I have Doom Bar in bottles.”

“Great,” was his enthusiastic response.She poured a glass from a partly empty bottle of white wine for herself and a bottle of beer for Strike, then rummaged in her desk drawer for her spare keys.Settling on her little couch with him, she handed over the keys which Strike put in his pocket.They drank silently for a while, Strike’s long legs stretched out and supported by Robin’s long ottoman, which she’d bought with him in mind although he rarely came by her flat. Robin’s legs were tucked up under her.She grabbed the throw off the back of the couch and spread it over them.Strike put one arm around her shoulders and they sat together, drinking in comfort, remembering the previous week and how they’d stayed with each other and cared for each other.Robin finished her wine first, set the glass on the floor, then took Strike’s beer bottle from him.She sat that on the floor with her wine, then she turned and reached for Strike as he reached for her.

Their first real kiss was on that couch, but it wasn’t the last of the evening, which rapidly required them to head to Robin’s bedroom to live out what had been just dreams until now. 


End file.
